November 28, 2012, 6:30PM

In this Monday, Oct. 1, 2012 photo, farming director Sam Brake walks through a test plot of Arundo donax near the Biofuels Center of North Carolina in Oxford, N.C. It's fast-growing and drought-tolerant, producing tons of biomass per acre. It thrives even in poor soil and is a self-propagating perennial, so it requires little investment once established. To people in...

November 28, 2012, 6:30PM

In this Sept. 17, 2007 photo provided by Dendra Inc., part of a 75-acre stand of Arundo is mowed on the San Luis Rey River by the Mission Resource Conservation District in Bonsall, Calif. California has spent more than $70 million trying to eradicate the invasive, self-propagating perennial. (AP Photo/Dendra Inc., Jason Giessow)

November 28, 2012, 6:30PM

In this Monday, Oct. 1, 2012 photo, farming director Sam Brake shows a "rhizome" from an Arundo donax plant in a test plot near the Biofuels Center of North Carolina in Oxford, N.C. It's fast-growing and drought-tolerant, producing tons of biomass per acre. It thrives in even the poorest soil and is a self-propagating perennial, so it requires little investment...

November 28, 2012, 6:30PM

In this Monday, Oct. 1, 2012 photo, farming director Sam Brake is dwarfed by a stand of Arundo donax in a test plot at the Biofuels Center for North Carolina in Oxford, N.C. The center is promoting Arundo, a known invasive that is already banned in at least three states. (AP Photo/Allen Breed)

November 28, 2012, 6:30PM

In this March 5, 2012 photo provided by Dendra Inc., a worker from the San Diego River Conservancy sprays previously-mowed, re-sprouting Arundo donax in Santee, Calif. California has spent more than $70 million trying to eradicate the invasive, self-propagating perennial. (AP Photo/Dendra Inc., Jason Giessow)

November 28, 2012, 6:30PM

In this Monday, Oct. 1, 2012 photo, farming director Sam Brake bends a stalk of Arundo donax toward the ground in a test plot behind the Biofuels Center of North Carolina in Oxford, N.C. The center is promoting the Asian transplant, but at least three states have already banned "giant reed" as invasive. (AP Photo/Allen Breed)